


Our House

by meower808



Series: Vaguely Connected Tomrey Onshots [1]
Category: HLVRAI - Fandom, Half Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware, Half-Life
Genre: Benrey uses he/they, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, He/Him and They/Them Pronouns for Benrey (Half-Life), Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Not Beta Read, One Shot Collection, Post-Canon, Sunkist shows up for like 2 seconds, Tomrey Shippers come get ya juice, they bought a house together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:22:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27610622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meower808/pseuds/meower808
Summary: Benrey and Tommy have bought a house some time after escaping Black Mesa. Benrey has some feelings he needs to get off his chest. Some tears are shed, some love is shared. :)
Relationships: Benrey & Tommy Coolatta, Benrey/Tommy Coolatta
Series: Vaguely Connected Tomrey Onshots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2018678
Comments: 4
Kudos: 40





	Our House

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't seeing enough Tomrey content out there, so might as well make it myself. This is my first HLVRAI Fic, but I tried my best to write them in character.
> 
> This fic was 100% inspired by the song Our House by Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young. 
> 
> You can find me @meower808 on Tumblr and Instagram.

“It looks nice.”

“Hmm?” Benrey looked up from their task. He must have zoned out.

“The vase I, I mean.” Tommy specified, gesturing to where Benrey had previously had their hands busied, organizing a small arrangement of chocolate cosmos and pink carnations. He had a smile on his face that warmed Benrey’s cold bones. The evening light shining through the window hit his face, giving it an ethereal glow.

“Oh, uh, yeah. Bought it today. Thought it.. looked pretty. Flowers too” They responded, fidgeting with the cloth covering the small, round side table.

“Well- well, you were right. They’re prettier than a pleasant… a pleasant spring morning.” Tommy stepped towards him, resting his chin in their black hair, recently cut short. A blue hue spread across Benrey’s pale cheeks. Moments like this had become common between them, but he never stopped melting under Tommy’s uplifting gaze.

“That’s uh, that’s kinda gay.” they said, leaning into Tommy’s touch. _They just had a way with words, didn’t they?_

Tommy stepped back and let out his familiar giggle, leaving Benrey feeling warm. They allowed their gaze to follow Tommy as he walked towards the mantel, another feature that their new house sported. A small fire danced in the fireplace, bending like it had a will of its own. Something Benrey had never had in Black Mesa. That wasn’t something he really enjoyed thinking about, though.

“Y- y-you okay?” They had zoned out again. Tommy was sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace now.

“eh.” They weren’t sure. The events of Black Mesa were long behind him, but those dead thoughts still tainted their lively home.

“You wanna… wanna talk about it?” He asked politely, patting the couch cushion next to him.

“Mmmmdunno. It’s kinda cringe.”

“I don’t mind, you know.” He scooted over a bit as Benrey plopped down next to him and sheepishly began trying to explain how they felt.

“It’s just that… that whole mess is behind us. Black Mesa n’ stuff. Don’t gotta be there anymore, but…” They let out a shaky sigh, allowing the gears to turn in their head. Tommy waited patiently, listening intently, like he always did. “Sometimes it’s like I didn’t leave. Like, I’m uh, still there, or that I brought it with me or somethin’.”

“Brought?- brought it with you?”

“Yeah, like, whenever I’m someplace, Black Mesa is there too. I don’t wanna do that here. I like it here, this house, with you, I mean. It’s like, 100% OSHA certified bad mojo free… or whatever. Don’t want to, don’t wanna mess it up.” Benrey’s thoughts were racing. It was almost like he hadn’t known he felt this way until he had told Tommy just now. He had just kept the feeling inside himself, and now that he said it, it was real. That scared him, the realness of this thing that he didn’t want to be real. Tears welled into their eyes. Crying wasn’t their memo, but they couldn’t help themself as words began spilling out. “In that place, I was always doing stuff I didn’t want to do, and people ended up getting hurt. I, I could have hurt you, and-”

“H-hey.” Tommy leaned forward and pressed his forehead against Benrey’s, gently putting their hands in his. It took them away from their racing thoughts. “You’re not gonna me-ess up, anything Benrey.”

He lifted his face to look Tommy in the eyes. “How do you know that?”

Tommy announced without hesitation, “B-because I love you! That’s, that’s how.” Benrey was about to say something, but Tommy kept talking. “I l-loved you before the Resonance Casc-cade, and I loved you while we were trapped in Black Mesa, and, and when you turned on us-”

“Top 10 anime betrayals, I know.” Benrey mumbled.

“I knew it wasn’t your fault.” Tommy finished.

Benrey said nothing in response to that. He wasn’t sure how to deal with this right now, not with someone who loved them unapologetically, unconditionally. He sure didn’t feel unconditionally lovable.

“O-oh boy, here come the w-waterworks.” Tommy said affectionately, gently brushing a tear off of Benrey’s cold cheek. The tears had been in his eyes, but Benrey hadn’t noticed them fall.

“Tommy… How can you do this? Love someone like me?” they asked quietly.

“You silly goose. It’s easier than you seem t-to think.” There was that smile again, the right smile, the one he needed right now.

Benrey, for the first time that day, smiled back. He knew the Black Mesa inside of him wouldn’t just go away, but now he knew Tommy would be there to travel through it with him, just like he had before. A bit of purple sweet voice escaped their lips. _They were going to be okay._

“Can… Can we just sit here for a while?” Benrey asked, nose a little stuffed from the tears.

“Of c-course.” Tommy replied, letting Benrey lean against him.

They sat in that serene silence for a time. Sunkist had settled at their feet, basking in the warmth of the flames.

“Honk.” Benrey said abruptly, filling the silence with a single syllable.

“Pfft. What was that?” Tommy asked, watching the grin on Benrey’s face.

“I’m a silly goose, remember?”

“Thats right!” He exclaimed. For the second time that evening, Tommy laughed. Making him laugh just might be Benrey’s favorite thing.

_This was the way things should be_. Benrey’s eyes began to drift closed; their head leaned on Tommy’s shoulder. Sweet voice floated lazily into the air, a lullaby harmonizing with its slow movements. Gold discs, made into fiery gems by the small blaze burning at their feet, followed by pale blue bubbles, filled the room. Benrey had sung songs for many reasons, but his one was for Tommy and no one else.

Tommy looked like he was about to fall asleep as well, a small smile spreading across his face when he saw the sweet voice.

Benrey didn’t have to say anything. _Gold to sky blue means I feel at home with you._

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I've created a series to put this in because I already have a related one-shot planned.
> 
> I'm still nervous about posting my work, but I really enjoy making it. I hope you enjoy reading it just as much :)


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